Alexandrov Design Bureau
Alexandrov Design Bureau '''(formerly Alexandrov Armory''' from its creation until 1945) is a Russian firearms manufacturer that was founded in 1905 by a Russian engineer and soldier named Mikhail Alexandrov. His first creation was the Alexandrov M1906, a bolt-action rifle that was meant to be more reliable than the Mosin-Nagant series of rifles. While the rifle wasn't necessarily successful, it did see some usage by various divisions of the Imperial Russian Army, therefore he decided to expand his inventory to help supply weapons for the IRA. Also, his weapons were used to somewhat good effect in World War I. However, the Russian Revolution put a stop to Mikhail, as he was heavily against the Bolsheviks and remained loyal to the White Army. This led to the Bolsheviks forcibly seizing the Alexandrov Armory and his design patents, which extremely upset Alexandrov and joined the White Army during the Russian Civil War, and in 1919, he was killed in action. His company and his design patents were then put under the control of an associate of Vladimir Lenin, named Georgy Korsakov, who became the de facto head of the Alexandrov Armory. Korsakov went to work improving on Mikhail's designs and is credited with improving the reliability of some of his earlier weapons, mainly the M1915 pistol and M1917 semi-auto rifle. In 1934, Korsakov was arrested and imprisoned by the NKVD during the Great Purge, which put the control of the Armory under Mikhail's son, Gennady, who was a soldier in the Red Army. Although Gennady disagreed with his father's views on the Bolsheviks, he obeyed his father's wish, which was to become the eventual head of the Armory once he was old enough to take over. During World War II, Alexandrov had further successes with the Red Army, as they needed simple and easy-to-make weapons as fast as possible. In response, Alexandrov created a number of new weapons, which helped bolster the Alexandrov Armory's reputation. After the war, the company was renamed to its current name; Alexandrov Design Bureau. From then on, ADB had a good amount of success with their products up until the early-1980's, when the economy of the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc nations started to effect the company. This eventually led to the company's fall in 1992, and after that, Mr. Alexandrov had to suffer life in 90's Russia. He died in 1998 of an undisclosed disease. However, ADB was brought back again in 2003 by a businessman named Yuri Ivanov, and in 2005, announced their first weapon that they were going to manufacture, the AA105 series, an AK-style rifle made specifically for the civilian market. However, over the last few years, they have been manufacturing weapons specifically for the military, like the AA-08, KSV-14, and PP-18. Today (and formerly), ADB has its headquarters in Saratov, Russia, and has its manufacturing plant just across the Volga River in Engels, Russia. ADB currently competes against On Point International and Viktor Halitov Arms Co, and formerly competed against Podbyrin Specialized Arms. Products 1905 - 1992 era: Alexandrov M1906: 1908 - 1930 / 1941 - 1945 PA M1912: 1914 - 1917 Alexandrov M1915: 1916 - 1935 / 1941 - 1945 Alexandrov M1917: 1917 - 1935 * Alexandrov M1928: 1931 PA M1934: 1937 - 1945 PP-42: 1943 - 1947 / 1956 - 1978 PTRA-44: 1944 - 1946 SVA-43: 1945 - 1960 AA-55: 1958 - 1984 PA-57: 1959 - 1992 PON-60: 1963 - 1992 SV-68: 1971 - 1992 AA-81: 1984 - 1992 SV-85: 1987 - 1992 2003 - present era AA105 Series: 2008 - present SV-07: 2011 - present AA-08: 2011 - present Ishcheyka Shotgun: 2012 - present GPA-12: 2014 - present PON-109: 2014 - present PA-14: 2016 - present AA-16: 2019 - present KSV-14: 2019 - present PP-18: 2021 - present SVP-17: 2021 - present Fun facts: * Gennady Alexandrov's brother, Sergey, was a rather influential politician in the CPSU. However, he was arrested in 1955 for political reasons. In exchange for a shorter prison sentence, he was sent to the Mayak Nuclear Facility near Mayak, Russia. He has not been seen since his arrest. * In the 1960's to 1984, the initials of Alexandrov Design Bureau resulted in a bit of a standoff between Alexandrov and Oleg Antonov's Antonov Design Bureau. Ultimately, Antonov renamed its company after Oleg's death in 1984. Category:Company Category:Russian